Educating for an unknown Future: How to prepare students of ship design for the propulsion of tomorrow

Abstract

It is very likely that the students that we educate today will work with what we currently refer to as modern propulsion or alternative fuels in their career. As educators, the goal is to best prepare our students for their working life. This article looks into what a naval architecture student would need to know about these modern propulsion systems and fuels when they graduate. In this article, two types of knowledge are defined; adaptive knowledge, knowledge that spans multiple areas, and routine knowledge, that addresses a specific case. By identifying what competencies fall under the adaptive knowledge and which fall under routine knowledge, it is possible to advice on changes that should be made to the curriculum in order to best prepare students for the future.